PTCB Inventory Management & Billing 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What does 'PAR level' stand for in pharmacy inventory management?
- Periodic Automatic Replenishment (Correct answer)
- Pharmacy Adjusted Rate
- Product Availability Review
- Purchase Allocation Record
Correct answer: Periodic Automatic Replenishment
PAR (Periodic Automatic Replenishment) level is the minimum quantity of a drug that must be on hand before reordering is triggered.
Question 2: Which drug recall class indicates the most serious risk, including situations that can cause serious adverse health consequences or death?
- Class III
- Class II
- Class I (Correct answer)
- Class IV
Correct answer: Class I
Class I recall is the most serious, involving products that could cause serious health consequences or death if used.
Question 3: What is the primary purpose of an automatic dispensing cabinet (ADC) in a hospital setting?
- To compound sterile IV admixtures
- To provide controlled access and tracking of medications at the point of care (Correct answer)
- To replace the central pharmacy entirely
- To print prescription labels automatically
Correct answer: To provide controlled access and tracking of medications at the point of care
ADCs like Pyxis or Omnicell provide nurses with secure, controlled access to medications while electronically tracking every transaction.
Question 4: What does 'NDC' stand for in pharmacy?
- National Drug Code (Correct answer)
- New Drug Classification
- Narcotic Dispensing Control
- Numeric Dispensing Chart
Correct answer: National Drug Code
The National Drug Code (NDC) is a unique 10- or 11-digit identifier assigned to every medication product sold in the US.
Question 5: Which inventory valuation method assigns the cost of the most recently purchased items to cost of goods sold?
- FIFO (First In, First Out)
- LIFO (Last In, First Out) (Correct answer)
- Weighted Average Cost
- Specific Identification
Correct answer: LIFO (Last In, First Out)
LIFO (Last In, First Out) uses the most recent purchase price to value inventory sold, which is the opposite of FIFO.
Question 6: A pharmacy receives a drug recall notice. Which action should be taken FIRST?
- Discard all recalled product immediately
- Identify and quarantine the recalled lot numbers from dispensing stock (Correct answer)
- Notify all patients who received the drug
- Contact the state board of pharmacy
Correct answer: Identify and quarantine the recalled lot numbers from dispensing stock
The first step is to identify affected lot numbers and physically quarantine them so no further dispensing occurs while the recall is processed.
Question 7: What is a 'formulary' in the context of managed care and pharmacy?
- A list of approved compounding recipes
- A schedule of controlled substances
- A list of preferred medications covered by an insurance plan (Correct answer)
- A pharmacy's inventory ordering schedule
Correct answer: A list of preferred medications covered by an insurance plan
A formulary is a list of prescription drugs approved for coverage by an insurance plan, often organized into tiers based on cost.
PTCB Inventory Management & Billing 1
What does 'PAR level' stand for in pharmacy inventory management?